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The Spectrum
Things That Made Me Nauseated In My 1st Trimester
January 28, 2016
Now that I #8217;ve done and had my baby, I feel it might be safe to recount my experience with the first trimester of pregnancy, just for fun. My nausea set in around 5 and a half weeks and didn #8217;t let up until 14 and a half. #8220;Morning #8221; sickness is a lie, as I felt horrible all day long, the worst of it at night. (OH GOD, THE NIGHTS.) I remember scrambling to leave work early so I could brave the subway and get home before the worst of it hit because hoo boy, the subway when you #8217;re not feeling well, RIGHT?
It was a horrible feeling. I tried hard to be grateful, considering how easily I became pregnant, but I could only keep up the #8220;THIS IS TOTALLY FINE! #8221; attitude for so long. Around week 8, I started actually vomiting instead of just dry heaving which really kept the experience alive and interesting for me. There were too many nights where I lay on the bathroom floor clutching the toilet and crying, wondering how much longer I would feel so bad. The trick of #8220;morning #8221; sickness is that eating actually makes you feel better for awhile #8230;but eating when you feel nauseated is very, very hard to do.
But that #8217;s over now. And I have a sweet little baby now. In the grand scheme of things, 9 weeks of feeling like you #8217;re suffering from a terrible stomach virus is a small price to pay, right?
(HA HA SERIOUSLY I #8217;M NOT ACTUALLY SURE ABOUT THAT)
So, without further ado, here #8217;s a list of
Things That Made Me Nauseated In My 1st Trimester:
#8211; vegetables
#8211; brushing my teeth with a toothbrush
#8211; brushing my teeth with a baby toothbrush
#8211; thinking of brushing my teeth
#8211; the smell of raw tomatoes (which I was told do not have a smell. LIES!)
#8211; the thing I was craving and walked many blocks to order and bring home only to find after three bites that it was the most disgusting thing I had ever ingested
#8211; my prenatal vitamin
#8211; the grocery store
#8211; thinking of all that gross food that lives in the grocery store
#8211; a few pages of Glamour magazine containing beautiful illustrations of healthy recipes to cook for dinner. tonight!
#8211; whatever that horrible person just microwaved for lunch at work
#8211; the subway in the morning
#8211; the subway in the evening
#8211; walking outside sometimes (Seriously. *walk outside* *start dry heaving* J: WHAT IS IT!? WHAT IS IT!? Me: Just #8230;the air #8230;)
#8211; fruit except for apples
#8211; the entire beautiful meal my sister cooked for dinner on vacation, then subsequently all the other things my mom tried to feed me after that so I just cried and cried into a bowl of noodles about how I was going to probably feel nauseated forever someone please make it stop help
#8211; coffee
#8211; the headache I got from not drinking coffee
Things That Did NOT Make Me Nauseated In The First Trimester
#8211; cheese
#8211; apples
#8211; walking outside sometimes
#8211; yoga and the hour after yoga, where I felt GREAT
#8211; peanut butter
#8211; blueberry muffins
There is no graceful way to end a post about all the things that made you puke. So. Bye.
Fin.
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categories: News
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Hey Neighbor.
January 24, 2016
Hi! How are you guys? Just living next door to us, as usual, right? Ha.
Oh. The baby? Yeah.
Well. I wouldn #8217;t call it CRYING. She #8217;s not really a crier #8230;it #8217;s more like #8230;yelling? Like loud talking kind of? But she #8217;s a baby so it #8217;s just kind of constant screeching? With some moaning mixed in?
Yeah. I #8217;m sorry about that. Is it all the time? Yeah, it #8217;s most of the time. I mean, she #8217;s #8230;spirited! That #8217;s what we #8217;re calling it these days! A SPIRITED CHILD! I have one! It #8217;s awesome! No. Really. NO REALLY SHE IS SUPER AWESOME!!! She just has a lot of feelings. Which is surprising to no one, right? Because I have feelings?
Oh.
Yeah.
The new album? Adele. Yeah. I #8217;m sorry. It #8217;s just. The baby LOVES IT. You put on #8220;Hello #8221; and the child immediately calms and crawls over to the speaker and just stares at it longingly. Then when Adele wails on the chorus, the baby just goes CRAZY. She just smiles and have you seen her smile? Probably not because she screams a lot but trust me when I tell you she has the GUMMIEST smile. It #8217;s incredible. It #8217;s SO CUTE. Well. It used to be gummy. Now she has two bottom teeth. They #8217;re brand new. That #8217;s why she was up 6 times last night. HA HA I #8217;M SORRY YOU HEARD THAT.
No, seriously. Six times.
Yeah. I mean. She #8217;s not much of a sleeper. Ever? No, not really. Not ever a sleeper. She #8217;s got serious FOMO, as far as we can tell. Just wants to be hanging out with everyone all the time.
What? Oh. How am *I* doing? Considering I haven #8217;t slept in 8 months? HA HA THAT #8217;S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION I DON #8217;T KNOW. I mean, we kind of hit a groove and she WAS sleeping through the night. Sort of. I mean. Up once or twice. But that #8217;s cool, right? That #8217;s okay. You don #8217;t have kids. You #8217;re not supposed to know what #8217;s normal. Hell, I HAVE A KID AND I DON #8217;T KNOW WHAT #8217;S NORMAL. I #8217;m pretty sure #8216;sleeping through the night #8217; is one big ruse though and no kid actually is supposed to be doing that until like, age 2, but everyone makes it sound like you have a complete monster if your child is waking up more than once past 8 weeks old and it just kind of riles me up a little because anytime you run into ANYONE who knows you have a new baby, the first question they ask is HOW IS THE SLEEP? and you #8217;re like Jesus Christ, I have a new baby HOW DO YOU THINK THE SLEEP IS!?!?!?!?!?
Sorry. I #8217;m yelling. I didn #8217;t mean to yell. I guess that #8217;s where the little one gets it from HA HA!
Okay. Well. Have an amazing night. What are you guys up to?
Pizza and a movie? That sounds great. I #8217;m probably doing the same. Except I #8217;m going to fall asleep 20 minutes into the movie at like 8:30 because you know, the teething, I #8217;m a little bit tired and honestly no movie is better than sleep nowadays, HA.
Um.
So.
Thanks for not ever saying anything about how much the baby cries yell-talks. I know you can hear it. I mean, you share a wall. GOD KNOWS I CAN HEAR IT.
So, thank you.
And I #8217;m sorry.
But trust me when I tell you that despite her yelling and her teething and my sleep deprivation, she is the BEST.
No, seriously.
The best.
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categories: News
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Oh, hey.
March 14, 2015
You think I would #8217;ve had something to say over the past few months given that I have a baby #8230;growing #8230;in my body.
And I do have a lot to say but I #8217;m short on time. Or maybe it #8217;s just that I #8217;m really bad at prioritizing this little space on the internet. Here #8217;s my attempt at remedying that: a post that is probably going to be all over the place, saying everything and nothing at the same time. You #8217;re welcome.
SO.
I am 7.5 months pregnant.
WHAT.
How is this possible?
I do not know.
We are having a baby girl. (!!!)
I was convinced that it was a boy. I mean, completely convinced. So much so that when the ultrasound technician said #8220;girl #8221;, I said #8220;can you check again? #8221; and she gave me some real good NYC attitude and snipped #8220;I know how to do my job #8221; and then zoomed in on my daughter #8217;s genitalia and started pointing out specifics until J and I were like OKAY OKAY WE GET IT PLEASE STOP THIS IS WEIRD.
I am completely delighted by the fact that it #8217;s a she though hesitant about #8230;a lot of things. On a practical level, the majority of my nanny experience involved boys. (Specifically two identical little buggers.) So a boy felt like something I knew, something I could handle. A girl felt scary. I immediately thought of how I felt about my mother when I was 13 and thought OH GOD, NO. And then a few people pointed out that I wasn #8217;t going to birth a teenager so maybe calm down and relax?
So that #8217;s what I did.
I #8217;m trying to stay as zen as possible in general. Everyone always talks about how high maintenance they were for their first child and then by the time the second came around they were much more relaxed. I #8217;ve attempted to approach this pregnancy as if it were my second. I haven #8217;t paid much attention to the list of DO NOT EAT OR YOU WILL DIE foods (though this is mainly because as a vegetarian, I don #8217;t eat most of them anyway). The first few weeks of pregnancy I was terrified to walk down the street, let alone exercise until I went to my therapist and was like HELP I AM AFRAID OF EVERYTHING AND ALSO REALLY BLOATED and she calmly said, #8220;Laura, go to the gym #8221;. And since then, I #8217;ve tried to stay as chill as possible. I eat food. I exercise. I take naps. My baby will not be born a teenage girl who hates me. I got this.
I have 10 weeks to go and I #8217;m trying to savor these moments before she arrives. Right now she #8217;s easy to take care of and though everyone warns me I #8217;m about to get really uncomfortable, I #8217;m still feeling pretty good. The first trimester was so horrendous that even a random leg cramp in the middle of the night or baby elbow to the ribcage feels completely tolerable. We #8217;ll see how I feel in a few weeks! For now, here #8217;s a photo I took of my belly in an Italian restaurant bathroom. The End.
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categories: Honey Bee
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Some News
November 28, 2014
I #8217;m typing this from sunny California as I spend my 6th Thanksgiving with Tom on the West Coast.
A quick recap because, memories!
LA, 2008. It rained the second I got off the plane. Tom lived in Korea Town and I think we saw a bunch of movies. Apparently the rain let up eventually and the weather got nice and warm and we taped this video:
Never Leaving from The Spectrum on Vimeo.
LA, 2009. We ate red velvet pancakes and took walks around Larchmont. My brother and his wife were in LA for a wedding and we drove up to Santa Barbara for the day and it was magical. We also ate at Thai Patio at least twice? Three times? Also, we saw a bunch of movies including #8220;The Road #8221; which terrified me for like 3 months afterwards.
LA, 2010. This year, we cooked up our usual feast, saw the latest Harry Potter movie and then drove to San Francisco for the weekend. (This was pre-Instagram era but photo filtering apps were all the rage and clearly, I was addicted. SIGH.)
LA, 2011. We ran the Santa Monica steps as usual, saw three movies and ate lots of Thai food.
LA, 2012. This was a really short trip, Tom was sick and so was I, I think I actually came home early? I also wasn #8217;t really blogging anymore so there is no evidence, photographic or otherwise, that this trip actually ever existed.
In 2013, I was newly married and it was the first time in 5 years I skipped LA and spent the holiday with my husband #8217;s family. So this year, when it was #8216;my #8217; turn for Thanksgiving, J asked what I wanted to do and I sheepishly suggested, #8220;Um, go see Tom in LA? #8221;
And lo, here some differences for 2014 that make this year a standout experience:
1 #8211; We decided to rent a house in Palm Springs instead of stay in LA. 85 degrees and a saltwater pool! Yes, please!
2 #8211; My amazing husband J is with us for the first time!
3 #8211; I am 15 weeks pregnant.
WUT.
You heard me.
J and I decided our lives were a little too normal, we were getting a little too much sleep, things were going a little too well so we decided hey, let #8217;s introduce a little bundle of chaos and see what happens.
The first trimester has been the roughest thing I may have ever gone through. (Is that dramatic? It sounds ridiculous. Whatever, IT STAYS.) Luckily, a few days before we left for California, my life turned around and food stopped being the most repulsive thing imaginable. I stopped throwing up and I stopped eating only bread so I feel really really lucky. I am feeling amazing and the warm weather in California is helping a lot, as is being around Tom who is just the best.
I am due towards the end of May and maybe this baby is just the thing I need to get me writing/blogging again. I would like to document this pregnancy though my personal journal up until this point basically says: #8216;threw up, did not throw up, almost threw up, feel like death, tomatoes smell awful, boobs hurt like crazy, sleeping 14 hours a day, barfed, etc. #8221; So that #8217;s not very exciting. But hopefully things will pick up soon.
Anyway, time to go take a nap by the pool and count my blessings, of which there are several hundred. I am so grateful.
xoxo
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categories: Blood Line, Travelin' Thru
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Emma Watson
September 25, 2014
Killing it. Her passion made me cry.
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categories: News
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#YesAllWomen
June 15, 2014
I have had so many ideas for blog posts. So many things I #8217;d rather talk about than this. However, as much as I #8217;d like to tell you I ran a half-marathon or had a great vacation in wine country, this issue seems to be much bigger than me and I think I will regret not being able to address it. So, here goes.
A few weeks ago, J and I traveled to Napa and Sonoma for a vacation with his family. While we were gone, I was blissfully unaware of the shooting that happened at UCSB, the subsequent campaign #YesAllWomen that spread around social media and then the backlash to #YesAllWomen that was basically men saying #8220;No, you #8217;re wrong #8221; in various ways. It was only when I returned home from California that it came to my attention and I was horrified. I clicked link after link, reading about so many women and their experiences, their viewpoints on what had happened in Santa Barbara, misogyny in our society, men refusing to acknowledge any of it, how enraged and tired we are. I can #8217;t come close to articulating what so many women already have. The only thing I can do is share my own experience and join in the chorus of voices.
I was about 14 years old the first time I was sexually harassed and made to feel unsafe and small. I was performing in a play at a local community theatre, the cast a mixture of other kids and adults. A man in his 40 #8217;s named Bob would constantly crack comments backstage about how I looked in my costumes and to call me when I turned 18 and how far away was that and did I want to date him now? It was framed as a joke but I knew in my gut that it wasn #8217;t. I never could find words for what it was so my cheeks would burn and I would smile uncomfortably and attempt to move anywhere that Bob wasn #8217;t. Eventually another adult (female) brought it to the attention of the director and Bob was told to stay away from the kids. Because that #8217;s what I was: a kid.
The second time I was sexually harassed, I was a senior in high school traveling alone on an airplane. Smushed up against the window for a two hour flight, the man in the seat next to me made comments about my looks, what he thought were my best assets (ass, number 1, tits number 2), asked if I wanted to sleep with him when I landed because he and his wife had an open relationship and he was going to a hotel on business. He looked visibly pleased at my discomfort, spilling details of his sex life, inching as close as possible to me. I did not know that I could call for help. It did not occur to me to press a button and involve a flight attendant. I felt trapped and ashamed. At 17, I did not have any tools, any words, any recourse, any understanding that I was entitled to my own space. I was amenable, always putting others ahead of myself, even at my own expense. I was not able to travel in public without being disgusted with the details of a stranger #8217;s sex life, details that were offered to explicitly make me submissive and uncomfortable.
I have told maybe three people about that experience since it happened roughly 13 years ago. The shame of it still stings even though I did nothing wrong. And also, let #8217;s reiterate once again: I was still a kid.
As an adult woman, I could write pages and pages about men inserting themselves into my space whether or not I wanted them to. Physically, verbally, it is not an exaggeration to say that it happens every day. It doesn #8217;t matter if I #8217;m out for a run on a hot day in a pair of shorts or bundled up in the middle of February in a winter coat, gloves and boots. It is not because of any characteristic that I specifically possess. It is simply because I am a woman.
The man who accosted me walking in Chelsea one night, who told me I #8217;d look really hot if only I took off my glasses.
The man who yelled at me as I left the yoga studio. #8220;Keep doing what you #8217;re doing, NICE ASS! #8221;
My male scene partner for my first and only Harold audition at UCB, who made the game of the scene a situation where he just threw insults at me, finishing the scene by calling me a #8220;cunt #8221;. In front of everyone. Because it was funny, right? Actually it was not. I never auditioned again.
A male yoga student who cornered me when class was over and made sexual comments to me that left me so uncomfortable, I went home in tears and he was asked to not come back to the studio. Turns out I was one of many female teachers he had approached.
Men trying to touch me on the subway or whispering something crude while nodding slyly and smiling.
My co-worker at a former company who would stop by my cubicle and make comments about my lipstick, about my legs, about my clothes, telling me I was dressed inappropriately for work, sharing intimate details about his divorce and his dating life. I was still not in a place where I could speak up to his face. But with the encouragement from others, I took it to HR. I had e-mails from him in my inbox that said #8220;Please don #8217;t tell anyone the things that I discuss with you #8221;. I forwarded them on. Soon after that, I left the company for other reasons. As far as I know, he still works there. He was asked to attend a weekend workshop in Connecticut entitled #8220;Employee Etiquette: How To Treat The People You Work With. #8221;
I recently cut all my hair off. Over fifteen inches, gone. I had many reasons for this, my therapist blanketing all of them with a need for change, a need for power, a need for agency over my decisions. When my husband asked what prompted the idea, the reason that came truthfully tumbling out was #8220;I #8217;m sick of men staring at all my blonde hair on the subway. #8221; And it #8217;s true. So I hacked it all off.聽I guess you could say I hit a breaking point. And while the length of my hair shouldn #8217;t matter and the onus shouldn #8217;t be on me to change myself, the power it has given me is unbelievable. I tell anyone who will listen how empowered I feel, how masculine, how strong, feelings that are mostly alien to me.
My inability to stand up for myself is perhaps its own separate issue and it bleeds into all areas of my life, not just this one. As a child, as a girl, I was never told that I had a right to my body and my space. I was not given words. I #8217;m also an extremely emotional and highly sensitive person which means when I was younger, my feelings would overwhelm me and make it very hard to communicate. This is why I #8217;m really good at staying silent in scary situations, why I #8217;d rather slump down in my airplane seat than call for help or tell anyone to stop. It #8217;s a straight up dangerous way to be.
Now, I practice. I have phrases in my toolbox that I have rehearsed so if I need them, I can use them. My husband is the one who encouraged me to create them. We sat together one evening and made a list of things I could say. They are simple and I feel silly even admitting it but the power it gives me to have something to lob back is indescribable.
#8220;Don #8217;t touch me #8221;, I said loudly to a man recently who was standing on the running path with his arms outstretched, laughing with his buddies, drinking a beer (on a running path? Cool, bros!) offering a high five or a grab, who knows?
Don #8217;t touch me. This is making me uncomfortable. I need you to step away from me. I don #8217;t care.
The last phrase meaning, I don #8217;t care that you like my hair or not (awkward male co-worker who said I looked like King Joffrey! Funny! But also, ????) I don #8217;t care that you think I #8217;d be hotter if I took my glasses off. I don #8217;t care that you #8217;d like me to smile as I walk by. I do not exist to make you happy, newsflash. I don #8217;t even know you.
I #8217;m not sure men need to practice these phrases. My husband admits to me that he barely thought about what women go through on a daily basis until he met me and we had many conversations on the subject. And why should he? He walks where he likes to walk, whether it #8217;s dark or light outside. He #8217;s unaccustomed to strangers shouting crude things at him. He doesn #8217;t need to wonder if the person behind him while he walks home is following too close. He doesn #8217;t need to cross the street to be sure. He #8217;s never slipped his keys between his fingers like a weapon, thinking a stranger might be lurking somewhere nearby.
The messages are clear: The only thing that matters is how I look. How I look is fair game for commentary, from anyone. I am not safe in public. I am not entitled to space or respect. Because I am a woman, I have to be constantly vigilant because there are predators out there who want to invade my space and my body. After all, as women we are told #8216;do your best to not get raped #8217; instead of telling men #8216;DO NOT RAPE WOMEN #8217;, kind of fucked up, no!?
So, those are some of my experiences and by no means are those even half of them. Every woman I know can speak similarly. Because #YesAllWomen. And yes, I am completely aware that it #8217;s not all men but the tricky thing is, how do I know? If we #8217;re alone in an elevator, how do I know what kind of guy you are? The point is that as a man, you NEVER have to think about the type of person who is riding in the elevator with you and I do. That is the point. The playing field is nowhere near level. You need to understand that or this conversation can #8217;t go anywhere and nothing can improve.
I #8217;m waving my arms like crazy over here because at 31, I #8217;m finally feeling empowered to take up space, to chop off my hair, to speak back to the men in my life who enter my space without my permission. I #8217;m raising my hand and I #8217;m pushing that call button like crazy.
I think we all deserve at least that much.
More reading, if you need it:
The Most Powerful #YesAllWomen Tweets
A Gentleman #8217;s Guide to Rape Culture
Why Is It So Hard For People To Get That Elliot Rodger Hated Women?
I Am Not An Angry Feminist, I #8217;m A Furious One
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categories: News
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The House On The Hill
April 3, 2014
My parents sold their house. They #8217;d been talking about it for awhile now #8211; property taxes too expensive, too much property for my dad to maintain, etc. They put some work into it and put it up for sale in October.
#8220;This is going to take awhile, #8221; I thought. It #8217;s a beautiful house but it #8217;s dated now and it needs work. It also sits awkwardly on a huge hill which can be a pain when the driveway is covered in snow or ice #8230;
A young couple from the city walked into the house with their new baby a month or two ago. They wandered around for a bit, pointed out some things that needed work and then were basically like, #8220;We #8217;ll take it, here #8217;s cash #8221; and that was that.
#8230;
I was four years old when my parents decided they needed more space and moved us out of Nassau County and into the big house on the hill at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Miller Place. When we moved in, a huge peach farm hugged the main highway and new construction was popping up in empty lots, mixing in with old houses that had been standing since before the Revolutionary War. I #8217;d meet my neighbor Sam at the bus stop every morning, we #8217;d ride bikes after school or roller skate around her unfinished basement. We #8217;d bounce from neighbor to neighbor all summer, to the one with central air conditioning, to the one with the pool, begging dollars from our parents when the ice cream truck rolled through, making our tongues sting with sour War Heads or too sweet sugary Pixie Sticks.
I have a fuzzy memory or two from my toddler days but really, the only home I know is the one my parents just sold. And as lucky as I am to have had them there until now and as crazy and as selfish as it sounds from a woman of thirty-one, I just thought I had more time. More summer evenings at the backyard picnic table with my mom #8217;s macaroni salad. More walks around the property to see my dad #8217;s new flowers or landscaping adventures. More time sitting on the stoop with a glass of wine listening to the crickets, seeing stars and the flash of the neighbor #8217;s television from across the street.
My parents are so excited about moving. I know they #8217;re nostalgic and sad, just like me, but they #8217;re making an excellent choice and they #8217;ve purchased a beautiful condo in Riverhead. I went out to see it last week and to begin the arduous process of sorting through boxes of things I #8217;ve kept at their house. It was funnier than I thought #8211; particularly once I hit the shoeboxes of high school keepsakes. You can see my two interests clearly #8211; Broadway playbills and Jesus paraphernalia. Cast lists and tech rehearsal schedules, a program from my Confirmation, Jesus stickers on a youth group notebook. Then, notes passed surreptitiously in math class, referencing inside jokes I no longer understand and people I no longer remember. Love letters, artwork, report cards, yearbooks, photographs. One of my favorites: a childhood birthday card from my beloved Grandma Agnes telling me she won at bingo last night, here #8217;s a few extra dollars, love, Grandma.
So many things sorted through, a few boxed up, so many things stacked up in a trash pile, better to let them go.
I saved my tears for the ride home and I #8217;m not even sure what I was crying about, exactly. I know that home is really my parents and they are both still alive and I #8217;m so grateful for that. I know that the next chapter will be full of fun, in a brand new home in a brand new town. Beers on their new patio in the summertime, Christmas in a new living room, meals around the same table taking up a different space. The same drive out to the island from the city, just a little bit longer.
I guess I cried for all the goodness. Because that #8217;s all that really came to mind. I couldn #8217;t for the life of me drudge up anything bad, anything sad, even though I know those experiences are there and that #8217;s alright.
But I suppose during a transition like this, when you have to say goodbye, you remember the goodness. The sweetness. The grace.
#8230;
Carving out trails in the woods behind our house. Me and Paul and cousins, staying out for hours, making up rules and games, pretending we were experts, tour guides, identifying berries and leaves, finding the best walking stick, man hunt when the sun went down.
Building igloos on snow days with Debbie, taking turns speeding down the hill on sleds, all the neighborhood kids coming inside for hot chocolate, my mom would throw our mittens and gloves in the dryer until we were ready to go back out again.
Jumping in leaf piles, pulling Jeremy in his little red wagon, walking to the Harvest Festival at the junior high school for caramel apples.
Helping my mom weave the sparkly white garland around the bannisters for Christmas. Hanging lights in the windows, securing with scotch tape, waiting inevitably for the tape to give up and for the lights to fall down. Karen Carpenter on the record player.
Falling asleep in the back of the minivan, driving back from the beach or the cousins #8217; house or a party late at night, waking up when the car hit the tiny bump at the edge of the driveway where the pavement is slightly uneven. Feeling the van turn slightly as it makes its way up the hill, my mom pressing the new automatic garage door opener, shifting the car into park. Paul and I sleepily unbuckling ourselves and crawling out of the car, my parents carrying in my little brother and sister, pajama-clad and snoring. One by one, we #8217;d file up the steps and into our house, which had been standing there quietly, waiting for us to come home.
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categories: Blood Line
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What A Lovely Place
March 1, 2014
I wrote this over the weekend and forgot to hit publish. You #8217;re welcome.
A few weeks ago, tired of the New York winter, I texted Tom to see if he was around for a visit.
#8220;Any weekend! #8221; he said, delighted. #8220;It #8217;s dry and 80 here! #8221;
I picked the weekend based solely on cost of flight. ($288 round trip, be still my heart!) Then last week, the news began circulating that California was due for some rain right around the time I was set to show up.
#8220;Don #8217;t worry! #8221; reassured everyone. #8220;The forecast is always wrong! #8221;
Welp.
The forecast this time, my friends, was correct. Great for the drought, bad for me, but I #8217;ll take one for the team.
Knowing we were about to get rained on for almost my entire stay, Tom and I began half-jokingly talking about driving to the desert for a day just to get warm, before the storm hit. I took an early flight out of JFK Thursday morning and when I arrived, 11:15 AM LA time, Tom was waiting for me at the airport.
#8220;Here #8217;s some veggie sushi, a juice and a scone. Also we are driving to Palm Springs now. #8221;
And we did. Driving straight from the airport, we booked a cheapish room at the Ace hotel due to some Orbitz rewards I had racked up and in two hours, I was sitting at a restaurant in 83 degree weather sipping a Bloody Mary. Later we sat by the pool reading, took a nap, went to dinner, a day of perfection. I could #8217;ve gotten on a plane home that evening and felt like my trip was worth it.
In the morning, while grabbing a quick brunch at Cheeky #8217;s before we left for LA, the rain started and didn #8217;t stop until Sunday afternoon. I thought I would mind because it #8217;s not warm exactly and definitely not summery and DEAR GOD ENOUGH WITH THE PRECIPITATION, WORLD but it #8217;s #8230;spring. And spring, I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
The rain kept coming and I spent blissful hours alone while Tom was in rehearsal just sitting in a coffee shop reading a very long delicious novel, something I always say I #8217;m going to do in New York but never do. I just grab a few pages here and there on the subway when I can. There #8217;s something about the push and pull of the city that makes it hard to stop and rest and I think there #8217;s some of that in LA, especially in the entertainment industry, but I #8217;m blissfully not a part of it. So I read and I wrote and I napped and my best friend was always somewhere close by.
We reenacted choreography remembered from 6th grade when we were in the children #8217;s chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, much to his roommate #8217;s dismay. We went out for late dinners and drank fancy cocktails downtown. We spent each night in bed next to each other watching HBO on his laptop, the computer balanced on a pillow between us.
This is my 7th time visiting Tom in LA? I think? It #8217;s amusing to see that the first time (when hilariously, it also rained as soon as I arrived), was spent really seeing the town and doing some touristy things and cramming a lot in to a few short days. As the years have gone by, it has become less about that and more about Tom being like #8216;hey I have errands to run, do you want to drive around with me for two hours? #8217; and we sit and do NOTHING and it doesn #8217;t seem to matter at all. In fact, it #8217;s quite lovely to have that kind of relationship where you #8217;re like hi, you don #8217;t have to entertain me or do anything special, I #8217;ll just be here hanging out with you regardless.
He did clean his room for me, which I found quite precious.
It doesn #8217;t take much to reboot and reset and breathe a little bit after a winter spent bracing against the chill, shoulders hunched, evenings spent feeling sad for no reason. I feel like I #8217;ve now got gas in the tank and I can power through the rest of the cold and I #8217;m so grateful for that.
Rainy spring.
How about you come to New York sometime soon?
Tom, also I am talking to you.
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categories: Blood Line
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It #8217;s Electrifying
February 24, 2014
I didn #8217;t set out trying to get electrocuted.
If you #8217;ve ever been electrocuted, then you know how it feels and you would know that that should never be a human being #8217;s end goal. Ever.
But that #8217;s precisely what happened about a week ago on a rollicking Saturday night.
Let #8217;s preface it by saying I was Tired. Like, real tired. A couple night #8217;s of bad sleep, too much work, I was pretty delirious. So at the rockin #8217; hour of 11-something on a Saturday night, I turned to my sweet husband and said, that #8217;s it, I give up, I #8217;m going to bed.
#8220;Remember to unplug the heater, #8221; said J.
Now, the heaters in our apartment are sensitive little beings. We usually sleep with the heat off, which is fine, but when the temperature drops below a certain degree, the heater will randomly blow air through its vents, even when turned off, to prevent everything from freezing. So throughout the evening, because the heater is on my side of the bed, I will get randomly blasted with ice cold air. It #8217;s as fabulous as it sounds.
So we finally came to the conclusion that oh, you could just unplug it, problem solved.
I stumbled into the bedroom and pressed the OFF switch. Then I reached down and pulled on the plug which is a HUGE three-pronged crazy thing in a HUGE custom-made socket. It wouldn #8217;t budge. So because I #8217;m not a quitter, I just thought, I KNOW! I #8217;ll use BOTH my hands and pull HARDER on it, not even stopping to think that the heater, at that moment, was STILL blowing out its final remnants of hot air. As in, I had pressed OFF, but it wasn #8217;t really OFF.
And so it came to be, that in my approximation, when I took my two hands and grabbed that plug and both of my index fingers made contact with one of the metal prongs, 10 zillion watts of electricity jolted through my body.
Let me tell you #8230;
Aside from some static electricity mini zaps, I have never before felt anything like that. It zipped through my index fingers, up into my wrists and all the way down to my toes. I screamed as if being murdered, because I was pretty sure I was and jumped back about three feet into the air. J came running and found me hysterical holding out my index fingers to him, gulping for air, my heart beating like crazy.
#8220;ELECTROCUUUUUUUUUTION!!! #8221; I wailed.
#8220;What? #8221;
#8220;I-I-I ELECTRO-HICCUP-CUTED-HICCUP-M-M-MYSELF ON THE P-P-PLUUUUUUUG! #8221;
J sat me down on the couch and calmly looked into my eyes, speaking slowly, as if to a very stupid animal.
#8220;Do I need to call #8230;an AM-BU-LANCE? #8221;
#8220;I DON #8217;T KNOW!!!! #8221; I yelped. #8220;AM I GOING TO DIE? #8221;
And it was a dramatic question, of course. But the fear was very real as my heart was racing and my body was on high alert.
#8220;I think, #8221; said J, as sweet as can be, #8220;that in these types of situations, if you were going to die #8230;you probably would #8217;ve done so by now. #8221;
#8220;WHAT???? #8221;
#8220;Your heart would #8217;ve stopped right away. #8221;
#8220;WHAT??? #8221;
#8220;I mean, at least I think so. Do you want me to Google it? #8221;
#8220;I #8217;M DYYYINNNNNNNNG! #8221; I wailed and buried my face in J #8217;s t-shirt.
We sat like that for a long time.
My whole body felt so strange. The memory of the electricity stuck to my skin, I could feel the jolts in my fingertips still and the warm buzzing and burning sensation throughout my arms.
After sitting in silence for quite awhile, I looked up at J and said, #8220;Remember when I electrocuted myself? #8221; and started to laugh.
#8220;DO NOT, #8221; said J. #8220;THAT WAS NOT FUNNY. #8221;
But the corners of his mouth were already turning up at the ends.
#8220;YES IT IS, #8221; I insisted. #8220;THAT WAS RIDICULOUS. #8221;
#8220;Laura, come on #8230; #8221;
Pause.
Then he ventured out loud #8230;
#8220;Do you think your hair stood up when it happened? #8221;
And that was just enough to push us to the brink of a new kind of hysteria, and the laughter started and couldn #8217;t be stopped. I told him I wished聽 someone had taken a picture so I could #8217;ve seen it, wondering if you could #8217;ve seen my skeleton like you can in cartoons.
After about an hour, I made my way back to bed, staying as far away from the heater as I possibly could.
#8220;I think I #8217;m going to let you deal with that from now on, #8221; I told J, as he tucked me in.
#8220;No problem. #8221;
I fell asleep with phantom pain in my wrists but laughter in my head and my love the next room over, checking in every now and then to make sure I was alright.
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categories: Honey Bee
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Run Run Runaway
January 27, 2014
I don #8217;t run.
Not sure if you know that about me.
Oh sure sometimes I #8220;go out for a run #8221;, usually at the advice of my therapist who once suggested I move my body when I get anxious. But I #8217;m not very strong, I don #8217;t love cardio and I don #8217;t go very far. I also tend to get distracted by the showtunes on my iPod and it #8217;s like, you know what? I #8217;d rather stop running and daaaaaance!
My brother Paul, however, runs marathons.
I #8217;m just going to let that sink in, in the event you knew Paul in high school. Back then, he was glued to his computer, was about 80 pounds overweight and his exercise routine consisted of walking from the couch to the pantry to scope out whether our mom had purchased any more Oreos.
Instead of exercising, Paul used that time in his life to become the smartest person in the world. Literally. He knows everything. More than anyone I have ever met. And I #8217;m guessing somewhere in the middle of LEARNING ALL THE THINGS, Paul was like hm, science says exercise and eat vegetables so I don #8217;t die. And just like he does with everything, he went full throttle.
Last year alone, Paul ran 4 marathons, a 50k and a 50 miler.
I #8230;hm.
People can change, I guess, is my point. Also my point: Paul is now unfairly the smartest person in the world AND the most athletic/lean/drop-dead gorgeous.
Last year, he and my also athletic sister Deb ran the Brooklyn half-marathon and were like IT WAS SO GREAT WE ENDED UP IN CONEY ISLAND DRINKING BEER!
And I was like, oh bummer, I want to hang out with you guys in Coney Island drinking beer, no fair.
So when registration came around a few weeks ago, those fools along with my husband who is always like YOU CAN DO IT YOU ARE GREAT!, convinced me to sign up.
Gulp.
WHAT HAVE I DONE YOU GUYS???
I #8217;m only slightly panicking. I had 16 weeks to train when I signed up (now down to 14) and I #8217;m told that #8217;s plenty of time. I #8217;m taking it slow, baby steps and it #8217;s been great so far except the polar vortex has mandated almost all my runs happen on the treadmill which is my least favorite thing.
But I must say, even after a 2 mile run, I am exhilarated.
#8220;I DID IT! #8221; I keep saying. #8220;I RAN TWO MILES! #8221;
I #8217;ve just always labeled myself #8220;not athletic #8221;, #8220;not a runner #8221;, #8220;not #8221;, #8220;other #8221;, I can #8217;t, I can #8217;t.
I #8217;m trying to prove to myself that I can.
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categories: Daily Musings
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Laura
@iamlauradlug